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Maintaining a strict diet - study looks at boredom

Repetition usually makes people enjoy things less. Such satiation causes our favorites to lose their sheen, makes it hard to follow a diet, and pushes us to escalate our spending on novelty. Life has even been called a "hedonic treadmill" where we must find better and better experiences just to stay happy.

9 Jan 2008

Trius Therapeutics starts U.S. phase I trial for Oxazolidinone antibacterial drug

Trius Therapeutics, Inc. has announced that it initiated its first Phase 1 clinical trial of TR-701, an antibacterial drug candidate intended for treatment of patients with serious Gram-positive bacterial infections, including those caused by MRSA and other drug-resistant strains.

9 Jan 2008

Teens find the benefits of sexual abstinence decline with age

The percentage of teens who report solely positive benefits from not having sex declines precipitously with age, according to a new study by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco.

9 Jan 2008

Study proves the co-pay connection in chronic disease

As 2008 begins, millions of Americans are having to dig deeper into their own pockets every time they refill a prescription or see a doctor.

9 Jan 2008

Stimulating the appetite can lead to unrelated impulse purchases

Exposure to something that whets the appetite, such as a picture of a mouthwatering dessert, can make a person more impulsive with unrelated purchases, finds a study from the February 2008 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research.

9 Jan 2008

Moderate drinking and exercise key to a longer life

People who drink moderate amounts of alcohol and are physically active have a lower risk of death from heart disease and other causes than people who don't drink at all, according to new research.

9 Jan 2008

Scientists use virus to wipe out cancer cells

Cancer Research UK scientists have used the immune system coupled with a virus found in horses and cattle, to hunt and purge cancer cells through the lymphatic system, a study reveals in Nature Medicine.

9 Jan 2008

Discovery of a core mechanism underlying Fragile X syndrome

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center are uncovering how brain cells are affected in Fragile X syndrome, the most common cause of inherited mental retardation and the most common genetic cause of autism.

9 Jan 2008

New understanding on the mechanics of gene transcription

The molecular machinery behind gene transcription -- the intricate transfer of information from a segment of DNA to a corresponding strand of messenger RNA -- isn't stationed in special "transcription factories" within a cell nucleus, according to Cornell researchers.

9 Jan 2008

Loss of a small portion of chromosome 16 linked to autism

Loss of a small portion of chromosome 16, known as 16p11.2, is significantly associated with autism report researchers from the University of Chicago Medical Center, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in an article, published Dec. 21, 2007, online by the journal Human Molecular Genetics.

9 Jan 2008

Researchers trigger insulin production in diabetic mice

If the human body were a stage, then proteins would rank among the lead actors in the play we call "Life."

9 Jan 2008

Treating diabetics with pig islet cells

As the fourth-leading cause of death in developed countries, diabetes can truly be called a modern-day plague.

9 Jan 2008

Peptides on a microchip

Synthetically produced short protein fragments, or peptides, are an important tool for researchers and medics.

9 Jan 2008

Oatmeal and cholesterol reduction

A new scientific review of the most current research shows the link between eating oatmeal and cholesterol reduction to be stronger than when the FDA initially approved the health claim's appearance on food labels in 1997.

9 Jan 2008

NicOx extends ophthalmology agreement with Pfizer

NicOx S.A. has announced it has signed an extension of its March 2006 collaboration agreement, which grants Pfizer Inc the exclusive right to apply its proprietary nitric oxide-donating technology to drug discovery research in the field of ophthalmology.

9 Jan 2008

Dengue seen as potential threat to US public health

A disease most Americans have never heard of could soon become more prevalent if dengue, a flu-like illness that can turn deadly, continues to expand into temperate climates and increase in severity, according to a new commentary by Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and David M. Morens, M.D., Fauci's senior scientific advisor.

9 Jan 2008

Newer meningitis vaccine MenACWY appears safe and effective for infants

A vaccine not yet licensed in the United States produces immunity against four strains of meningococcal disease and is well tolerated when administered to infants, according to a study in the January 9/16 issue of JAMA.

9 Jan 2008

New mobile video assistance technology to improve the life of older people

We are not getting any younger. As Europe's population grows older, the need for care is growing and we are spending more and more money to get it.

9 Jan 2008

New method for presenting clinical trial survival data

Researchers have developed a new method for presenting clinical trial survival data that includes data from all trial participants unlike the standard method, according to a commentary published online January 8 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

9 Jan 2008

New insight into factors that drive muscle-building stem cells

A report in the January issue of Cell Metabolism, a publication of Cell Press, provides new evidence explaining how stem cells known as satellite cells contribute to building muscles up in response to exercise.

9 Jan 2008